14 Aug. 2008: The JAG's decision regarding Fadel Shan'a is highly unreasonableFrom the beginning of 2007 to mid-2008, B'Tselem called for investigations to be opened into 99 cases in which 189 persons were killed. Up to the present, only 4 Military Police investigations have been opened. (…) Circumstances in the Gaza Strip render the use of Flechette shells illegal. This is because the wide area of dispersal of the darts shot out of the Shell makes its use in populated areas a type of indiscriminate firing which endangers innocent civilians, in violation of international humanitarian law.

Conscientious objector to IDF service jailedDesetci učenika završnih razreda srednjih škola u Izraelu su poslali pismo premijeru Olmertu, ministru obrane Baraku, ministrici prosvjete Tamir i načelniku stožera izraelske vojske Ashkenaziju u kojem najavljuju da odbijaju služiti u izraelskoj vojsci zbog izraelske „politike segregacije, ugnjetavanja i ubijanja na okupiranim područjima“. Vojska je odmah odgovorila uhitivši jednog od 18-godišnjaka, samo dan nakon što se nije u zakazano vrijeme pojavio na regrutaciji.
While in custody, Nir wrote a letter to Barak saying "I cannot take part in the activities of an occupying army that regularly violates human rights. As an Israeli citizen and as a drafted teenager, I feel that it is my duty to refuse to enter the circle of blood and (add fuel) to the fire of hatred that is raging in our fields. "I refuse to join an army so as not to support the occupation and other acts that go against my most basic principles: Human rights, democracy and every man's social responsibility towards his fellow man," the letter read.

Sailing To Gaza By David HalpinInside Gaza at the Al Wafa hospital there are several children on ventilators. The disposable plastic tracheostomy tubes have to be reused by washing them in antiseptic solutions and this risks respiratory infection. A senior physician asked for these tubes to be taken from Scotland to Gaza. The Dove and Dolphin (3) charity transmitted that clear request. Those tubes are being returned with the other vital supplies to Scotland. Tell Blair and Olmert and look in vain for shame.

Osama Qashoo: Intimidation will not stop our boats sailing for GazaI grew up in Palestine and have lived in fear since childhood. The horror of witnessing elders of my family being bullied and humiliated, the daily terror of losing my parents. Watching my family elders being humiliated, the child's voice inside me would cry out silently: "How can I stop this?" While I was on board the Liberty, I listened to the threatening messages hijacking the ship's emergency channel, illegal for use unless in distress. These voices reawakened a deep, familiar feeling in me: that no matter how civil, kind, non-violent I am, I will always be watched, or far worse, hunted.

Georgia/Russia Conflict Forced Into Cold War FrameGeorgia's military efforts–which involved, according to reports from Human Rights Watch (8/10/08, 8/14//08) and Western reporters on the scene (Washington Post, 8/12/08), intensive shelling of civilian areas–reportedly caused many noncombatant deaths and prompted a large proportion of the South Ossetian population to seek safety in Russia. It was this humanitarian crisis, coupled with Georgian attacks on Russian forces in the separatist areas, that Moscow cited as its justification for its military intervention. This does not suggest that Russian tactics are beyond criticism, or that a military response of this magnitude is justified.

Saudi child 'files for divorce'A court in Saudi Arabia is reported to be preparing to hear a plea for divorce from an eight-year-old girl who has been married off to a man in his 50s.

The Past Destroyed: Five Years LaterO pljačkanju i uništavanju svjetske povijesne i kulturne baštine u Iraku pod američkom okupacijom.
In the five years since the initial looting and pillaging of the Iraqi capital, thieves have stolen at least 32,000 items from some 12,000 archaeological sites across Iraq with no interference whatsoever from the occupying power.